Major League Baseball wants exemption from Arizona's minimum wage laws

Minor League players, who are contracted by their team's major league affiliate, are paid as little as $1,100 a month, and only when in season, according to USA Today.(Photo11: David Wallace/azcentral sports)

Major League Baseball wants Arizona lawmakers to ensure minimum wage laws don't apply to minor league players in the state, something the league recently accomplished at the federal level.

Rep. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, has introduced House Bill 2180, which would adjust the state's minimum wage laws to match the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The act was amended as part of the 2018 federal spending bill and exempts minor league players from earning the $7.25 federal minimum wage and overtime pay.

Minor League players, who are contracted by their team's major league affiliate, are paid as little as $1,100 a month, and only when in season, according to USA Today.

Rep. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, will help lead the bipartisan Arizona Future Caucus, the Arizona Capitol's first caucus specifically for millennials.(Photo11: Charlie Leight/The Republic)

Players are not paid during spring training, although they receive daily breakfast and lunch as well as a small stipend for living expense. This can cause a financial burden for players and their families.

Minor league players also are not members of the MLB Player's Union if they don't make the major league team's 40-man roster.

Under current Arizona law, the only people who don't earn minimum wage are those who work for a parent or a sibling, who babysit as a casual service or who work for the state or federal government.

Federal law changed last year as part of the budget.

Arizona's minimum wage is $11 an hour, and it will increase to $12 an hour in 2020 under Proposition 206, a ballot measure approved by voters in 2016.

Is idea 'ready for prime time?'

Shope said the MLB approached him about introducing a bill and he was happy to bring it to the Legislature, although he wasn't sure it furthered the intent of the voters.That is required for laws that make changes to voter-approved measures such as the minimum wage.

"Major League Baseball is a major component of Arizona’s commerce and tourism," Shope said. He said any business that relies on tourism is grateful for the minor league system in Arizona and the tourism it generates.

Shope said he told the league that it would take a lot of effort to change the state's minimum wage laws. In addition to furthering the intent of voters, changing the minimum wage rules would take approval of three-fourths of the Legislature to be sent to the governor's desk.

“I think it’s ripe for conversation, but maybe it’s not ready for prime time and Major League Baseball will figure that out. Forty-five votes is a very high number.”

Rep. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge

"I think it’s ripe for conversation, but maybe it’s not ready for prime time and Major League Baseball will figure that out," Shope said. "Forty-five votes is a very high number."

The bill also contains a retroactivity clause that Shope said is designed to protect the league from lawsuits they are facing in Arizona and Florida. Those lawsuits contend that the MLB violates minimum wage laws.

David Selden, a labor, employment and immigration lawyer at Cavanagh Law Firm in Phoenix, said it was uncommon to see retroactivity clauses in state labor legislation.

Selden said he thought whether the bill furthered the intent of the voters, which Arizona's Voter Protection Act requires, would be an open question.

"It’s fairly safe to say baseball players were not on the minds of the voters when it was passed," Selden said.

He said there is a strong case to be made by the MLB that overtime hours would stack up if players who are practicing at team facilities stayed late or were subject to overtime laws.

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But in an emailed statement, Ian Penny, general counsel to the MLB Players' Association, said, "It is fundamentally unjust to deny professional baseball players the basic protection of the minimum wage laws, especially at a time when clubs are reporting record revenues."